Practical Matters
Today's blog, by request, is on purely practical matters. Websites . . . and also pen names.
I'll do pen names first. I have three. One is my real name. One is for YA so kids don't go and buy THIS. One is for darker fiction. I am adding a fourth for my top-secret project. TOTALLY different genre.
On the one hand, having pen names for different genres makes sense. On the other . . . it gets burdensome after a while maintaining all that--email addresses, websites, even just keeping it all straight. However, taking a pen name when starting out altogether has some pros and cons.
The cons first . . . come on . . . MOST writers want to see their name on a cover. Not some fake name. They want everyone who ever knew them to walk into a bookstore, see their name on the front table, and go "Holy sh*t, she always said she was going to write a book!" In fact, I have had numerous friends from high school track me down because of that. (Hi, Dee!) So if it's NOT your real name, face it, the experience just isn't the same. Your parents don't get quite the same bragging rights. Everyone doesn't know.
The pros? Well, read the above paragraph. That's the pro. There is something to be said for bad reviews, jealous writers, back-stabbing PTA moms, and sneering colleagues who may wonder why you write about sex, say, if you write erotica, not being able to put YOU with a NAME.
Another pro? Suffice to say, more than one fan has "found" me. I have gotten gifts in the mail (extravagent and strange gifts--unasked for--including one delivered from Fed Ex, on a Saturday, so big it needed a handtruck, packed on dry ice--now there's a story). There ARE odd people out there. In my case, two overzealous male fans tracked me down--one living all the way in Portugual. Yes, you read that right. Pen names give you a measure of privacy. This may not seem like a big deal now, but if you become huge (and think about it . . . I am not a household name and I've been through this), who knows, it might. On the other hand, if you become huge, once again, do you want everyone who ever knew you to know? Only you can answer that. I can tell you it bugs my parents sometimes that some books don't have my real name. Then my dear father has to go to the trouble of telling his friends who I really am.
Can you choose any old pen name? Well, I chose names that had a little meaning to me. In hindsight, I wish they had more of a familial connection, and my new one will have a direct relation to me. However, I have to "run four names up the flagpole," so to speak for my new editor. So it's not ALWAYS a matter of simply saying, "This is my pen name." If you don't pick anything too weird, you should be OK. However, sometimes simpler names are, frankly, taken. Or are too similar to someone else writing in your genre. So sometimes it's literally not possible to buy up all the websites for all the pen names you might be thinking about.
Which leads me to websites.
In the last three months, as things have been going on behind the scenes sales wise, the first thing new editors did was plug in my website. The FIRST thing. Twice I was on the phone with editors while they did so. I have editors who read my blog. A web presence is important.
That said, my website is done at home by Significant Other. In between raising four kids and all the rest of it. It doesn't have a thousand fancy features. It's servicable, not totally ugly, it does the job, and it's fine for me. I have seen new writers spend a lot of money on amazing websites--for books that didn't sell. So you really have to consider that. Buy your name, maybe a pen name or two, park it, and if you feel inclined, add a page or two while waiting to sell. However, I have to be honest in that, I think an editor, if they were thinking of buying you as brand-new author would ASSUME you would buy a website, and NOT having one PRIOR to selling isn't the kiss of death. Better to have NOTHING than something unprofessional. Better still to have a nice page or two, maybe something about yourself and the book, contact information, and leave it at that. Editors I know are insanely swamped. They are not hunting down the website of every new writer they MIGHT buy. That's like people who, crazily, come close to a deal and then tell the editor they have fifteen unsold projects. No one is thinking you are a one-book wonder and every contract has an OPTION clause, so touting all these books only makes an editor wonder, "Why hasn't anyone bought you before?" Every editor knows you will get a website and promote your books.
And that said, I recently came across an author's advice for websites for newbies. The list of things this woman was saying you should have on your site was terrifyingly huge. The basics is enough for now. Worry about writing the best book you can.
And THAT said, I have to tell you . . . I think e-books are great. They are a wave of publishing that will come into their own eventually. But I know for me, if I go to a writer's site and see 50 e-books of dubious quality and hideous covers, I wonder. Just HOW polished is this book that Editor A is getting? Why not concentrate of doing one break-out book rather than 50 novellas? I think if you are going to do e-books, be picky about the company/publisher, picky about the cover art, and promote the hell out of a couple of them that showcase your BEST work, but don't think that all 50 of those are just brilliant gems that publishers in NYC should have bought. It looks frenzied, and that isn't ME talking, that's an editor I had lunch with who was very derisive about some trrends she was seeing and an author she thought about buying whose site was overloaded with e-books (I am not talking 5--I am talking really, really big numbers here, lest I get angry emails about my position on this). Be PICKY and showcase your VERY BEST if you are going to have a web presence. Just as I blog about writing, but do NOT post my grocery list. (For the record, yesterday I bought apples, granola bars, Diet Coke for oldest daughter, frozen veggies, bread, and a lot of yogurt. Oh, and non-dairy creamer for church, where I make the coffee and bring coffeecake or donuts for 75 people every Sunday.)
See. You didn't need to read that.
Thoughts on practical matters?
I'll do pen names first. I have three. One is my real name. One is for YA so kids don't go and buy THIS. One is for darker fiction. I am adding a fourth for my top-secret project. TOTALLY different genre.
On the one hand, having pen names for different genres makes sense. On the other . . . it gets burdensome after a while maintaining all that--email addresses, websites, even just keeping it all straight. However, taking a pen name when starting out altogether has some pros and cons.
The cons first . . . come on . . . MOST writers want to see their name on a cover. Not some fake name. They want everyone who ever knew them to walk into a bookstore, see their name on the front table, and go "Holy sh*t, she always said she was going to write a book!" In fact, I have had numerous friends from high school track me down because of that. (Hi, Dee!) So if it's NOT your real name, face it, the experience just isn't the same. Your parents don't get quite the same bragging rights. Everyone doesn't know.
The pros? Well, read the above paragraph. That's the pro. There is something to be said for bad reviews, jealous writers, back-stabbing PTA moms, and sneering colleagues who may wonder why you write about sex, say, if you write erotica, not being able to put YOU with a NAME.
Another pro? Suffice to say, more than one fan has "found" me. I have gotten gifts in the mail (extravagent and strange gifts--unasked for--including one delivered from Fed Ex, on a Saturday, so big it needed a handtruck, packed on dry ice--now there's a story). There ARE odd people out there. In my case, two overzealous male fans tracked me down--one living all the way in Portugual. Yes, you read that right. Pen names give you a measure of privacy. This may not seem like a big deal now, but if you become huge (and think about it . . . I am not a household name and I've been through this), who knows, it might. On the other hand, if you become huge, once again, do you want everyone who ever knew you to know? Only you can answer that. I can tell you it bugs my parents sometimes that some books don't have my real name. Then my dear father has to go to the trouble of telling his friends who I really am.
Can you choose any old pen name? Well, I chose names that had a little meaning to me. In hindsight, I wish they had more of a familial connection, and my new one will have a direct relation to me. However, I have to "run four names up the flagpole," so to speak for my new editor. So it's not ALWAYS a matter of simply saying, "This is my pen name." If you don't pick anything too weird, you should be OK. However, sometimes simpler names are, frankly, taken. Or are too similar to someone else writing in your genre. So sometimes it's literally not possible to buy up all the websites for all the pen names you might be thinking about.
Which leads me to websites.
In the last three months, as things have been going on behind the scenes sales wise, the first thing new editors did was plug in my website. The FIRST thing. Twice I was on the phone with editors while they did so. I have editors who read my blog. A web presence is important.
That said, my website is done at home by Significant Other. In between raising four kids and all the rest of it. It doesn't have a thousand fancy features. It's servicable, not totally ugly, it does the job, and it's fine for me. I have seen new writers spend a lot of money on amazing websites--for books that didn't sell. So you really have to consider that. Buy your name, maybe a pen name or two, park it, and if you feel inclined, add a page or two while waiting to sell. However, I have to be honest in that, I think an editor, if they were thinking of buying you as brand-new author would ASSUME you would buy a website, and NOT having one PRIOR to selling isn't the kiss of death. Better to have NOTHING than something unprofessional. Better still to have a nice page or two, maybe something about yourself and the book, contact information, and leave it at that. Editors I know are insanely swamped. They are not hunting down the website of every new writer they MIGHT buy. That's like people who, crazily, come close to a deal and then tell the editor they have fifteen unsold projects. No one is thinking you are a one-book wonder and every contract has an OPTION clause, so touting all these books only makes an editor wonder, "Why hasn't anyone bought you before?" Every editor knows you will get a website and promote your books.
And that said, I recently came across an author's advice for websites for newbies. The list of things this woman was saying you should have on your site was terrifyingly huge. The basics is enough for now. Worry about writing the best book you can.
And THAT said, I have to tell you . . . I think e-books are great. They are a wave of publishing that will come into their own eventually. But I know for me, if I go to a writer's site and see 50 e-books of dubious quality and hideous covers, I wonder. Just HOW polished is this book that Editor A is getting? Why not concentrate of doing one break-out book rather than 50 novellas? I think if you are going to do e-books, be picky about the company/publisher, picky about the cover art, and promote the hell out of a couple of them that showcase your BEST work, but don't think that all 50 of those are just brilliant gems that publishers in NYC should have bought. It looks frenzied, and that isn't ME talking, that's an editor I had lunch with who was very derisive about some trrends she was seeing and an author she thought about buying whose site was overloaded with e-books (I am not talking 5--I am talking really, really big numbers here, lest I get angry emails about my position on this). Be PICKY and showcase your VERY BEST if you are going to have a web presence. Just as I blog about writing, but do NOT post my grocery list. (For the record, yesterday I bought apples, granola bars, Diet Coke for oldest daughter, frozen veggies, bread, and a lot of yogurt. Oh, and non-dairy creamer for church, where I make the coffee and bring coffeecake or donuts for 75 people every Sunday.)
See. You didn't need to read that.
Thoughts on practical matters?
posted by Erica Orloff at 6:48 AM
18 Comments:
Erica, I bought bread yesterday too. lol My website was done by a CP's husband when he started Stonecreek Media. I love my website, and now Stonecreek is really popular. I recommend Justin to everyone. If not for my CP, I'd probably just have a Word Press blog. I'm not technically inclined and neither is my husband.
As far as pen names, I already know I want to use my name, despite the cons. Like you said, I want to see my name on the cover.
One thing you didn't mention is that you must be prolific to need four pen names. I don't think that will be a problem with me. Three books a year will be the most I'll do.
Hi Edie:
Prolific or insane. That remains to be seen. :-)
E
Hmm, so many terrific observations/insights/ideas here, not sure where to start.
Lemme flop on the couch for a minute and contemplate why when you mentioned dry ice, my twisted brain automatically leapt to some deranged fan sending you a severed limb. :0
As you know, I got a website sorta under duress. Mr. marketing (aka, the DH) insisted if I wanted to walk the walk...Not a bad thing because I must admit one of my greatest weakness is an inability to self promote and take myself seriously so I need him to give me a swift kick.
In a knee jerk response to feeling unprepared to have a web presence, I chose to use portions of my name. Again, not a bad thing. I'm odd man out in that I honestly thought I didn't care who saw my name on a cover--it will be enough for me to know it's there when it happens. I also wanted a bit of distance between writer me and real me because unlike your parents, I don't believe mine would wish to be associated with some of the off the wall stuff I'm happiest writing.
Which brings me to my l'il e-stories, strange but true, they are the sweet, traditional romancey type thing ma and the aunties LOVE. Go figure.
I agree, ebooks will find a bigger and bigger market, but IMHO they will never be on par with traditional publishing. I'm going to go out on a limb here--probably that severed one I mentioned--but I think part of the problem with epublishers is their own inability to take themselves seriously. Instead of promoting as an alternative, environmentally friendly read, they all seem to have this pervasive message that "We'll publish you in e format...BUT if your sales say you're good enough...we may take you to print"
Not conducive to writers or readers thinking they're producing the best, again, only IMHO.
Blogging is an effort for me. Not because I don't have something to say, but because I am stuck in this place where I am struggling to free up the sort of honesty you discussed in your dream post and give up my bloody cowardly and immature need to self edit. See, I learn something here EVERY day!
When I get there, I'll have a much better chance of penning THE novel I want to in full. AND I think when that happens, it might just be the name on my drivers license that goes on the cover.
Lainey:
Wow . . . what a great set of comments.
No. The dry ice was NOT for a severed limb. I wonder if I should make it a contest. What did the person send me and you win a book? But no, I'll just tell ya. Cassie Hayes drinks Coke, Coke, and more Coke in Spanish Disco, and I had a fan write me and ask if I was very much like Cassie Hayes. Of course I TOTALLY am, but in the interest of preserving a little mystery, I said no, except that she and I like Coke and I worked as a book editor with the same sorts of nutty authors as in Spanish Disco.
Next thing I know, I get an email asking me if it's because I like the taste or the caffiene. I gave a brief reply. And NEXT thing I know, I get--on a Saturday--an overnighted hand truck (took up half my foyer) of cold, on dry ice, beverages--masses of two-liters, all with caffiene. Now, had this been a BOYFRIEND, I would have found it endearing. The fact that it came from someone tracking me down on the Internet to my home address and so on, was a little creepy. No severed limb. But weird nonetheless.
As for e-pubs . . . I have seen some editing from SOME places (again, I am not looking to say it's all bad at ALL), and cannot generalize to all e-pubs, but my opinion is much of it (editing) is abysmal. So there's a professional angle to it. And there's an aspect that no place--e-pub or NY publisher--should buy and publish anything and everything a person writes. Some is by nature better than others, some needs work, no one is able to write 15 books a year and have them all be stellar. And when someone posts dozens of them on their site, there's just some element--maybe a gut instinct as an editor or writer, so maybe there's nothing to it or something to it--that says to me, why not work to hone that ONE, and like M.J. Rose--an unreal success story in that regard--make the big time happen?
Also, I have heard of some NIGHTMARES with e-pubs going bankrupt. Michele Hauf has blogged about it, and it sucks.
And Lainey--that book is in you. I know it is. Walk the walk . . . you can do it.
xo
E
Great info, Erica. Thanks for posting this.
I'm going to wait until I get a book contract to start a website. Then, I'm going to "dress for success" and get something professionally designed and maintained, keeping my minimalist sensibilities in mind.
I'm still undecided on the pen name/real name issue. Actually, most of the world knows me by another name anyway (Jude is my middle name), so I might just stick with Jude Hardin and have the best of both worlds. We'll see (soon, I hope!).
Amen! Well, I told you writing pursued me? So when I first won a tiny little contest, I had to choose a pen name (it's the way it was done, then--no choice), and it is the stupidest pen name ever. Nothing to be done about it.
And YES, you're so right, seeing one's real name on a book is a big deal. Especially once you're writing hours every day and you're hiding one's pen name because you teach, LOL. It's not comfortable to hide half of your life! (I'm terrible at not talking about what's on my mind.) It's a necessity, though.
Right now, writing a million e-books is what I need to do to pay the bills, LOL. The editing I get is not (sshhh!) as great as I'd prefer. I learned while selling, so I MAJORLY cringe about some of the stuff out there. But I've learned to write fast, to write clean, and to ruthlessly self-edit.
But I can never hope that pseudonym will sell to NY, because she writes in a little niche. It'd be so much easier if I could query NY and work my way down, but it doesn't work that way.
Plus I do really care about writing things that will help people accept themselves as they are. It's a bit of a passion or mission or whatever to me.
And, amen, having a pseudonym is like having a second job. Unless they're linked, it's totally a whole 'nother career.
I like how my career is gone, simply because I know me, and I don't know that I would've continued writing under all the rejection a beginning writer faces. I don't know that I would've developed discipline without needing the money. So it's okay. All writing career trajectories are so different, that I like to believe we each end up with the path we most need.
Argh! Look how long I went on! I'm so sorry, LOL ...
Hi Spy:
I think that's wonderful . . . and I think the big piece of that to learn from, too, is to look at your goals. I don't think you could query NYC and think the e-books would be an "in" per se--and so you keep them separate. And again, there is the M.J. Rose story of her self-pubbed becoming a big story. Some people DO have an untraditional path. It's just when you need to showcase your work to NY--again, if that's what someone wants--it's got to be the best work.
E
Spy:
And as a P.S. . . . I have heard e-book authors rave about their editors, but the experience is likely quite different from a NY house simply from a money perspective. I haven been paid as much as $10,000 to developmental edit fiction (a LOT needed doing)--and the least I have ever been paid for fiction is somewhere around $2,000. So do the math. It's not that there cannot be good editors toiling for what an e-book can pay . . . BUT the best talent is going to naturally gravitate to the houses that pay well. And THOSE houses can afford to be picky about their editors, too.
E
Such a good point. I have been trying to figure out if I mention my pseudonym at all; her first few things suck, but they're still out there! How many readers do I lose because that's the first thing they pick up? One thing I've learned is that I don't want to launch a NY career with writing that can't compete in the marketplace. If my writing isn't strong enough yet to get in without an "in," then I'll wait, you know?
Spy:
I think the pseudonym would show you are a working writer. You can mention it in a query but point out that this book is a departure, a book you have been working on for x amount of time, that sort of thing.
E
I would NEVER use my real name, because I think it's boring. But Amie is my real first name. (BTW Jude I love Jude Hardin--it has a nice ring to it) Last name is a family name. Next name I pick will probably be something to please me. Most of my family won't even discuss my writing and my dad couldn't even finish my first book (I thought it was funny--I write erotica LOL and he WAS WARNED!).
I check my stats all the time and recently got a hit from a big NY House, then was talking with my agent a few days later. She said she'd mentioned a project of mine to them, because even though she wasn't going to be sending it to those particular editors, she was going to send it to another editor at the house.
I really need to have mine redone but it'll do for now.
I didn't shop yesterday but what I did was no fun and not worth blogging about LOL
Hi Amie:
Thanks for sharing--a rela-life exmaple of how editors definitely look at times!
Jude: your name rocks; you don't need a pen name. The first time I saw "Jude Hardin" in comments I clicked on it, thinking, "that must be a great writer I've never heard of."
Don't let me down.
stephen:
LOL! I;ve done that too with some names.
So true about the e-books. An author friend has e-booked and self-pubbed herself out of consideration. Building a resume became a numbers game. Would rather one great book, compared to six passable placeholders on the shelves.
Erica, how many books do you writer per year?
You've given this newbie lots to think about--thanks!
Hi Kathy:
I probably publish 3-4 a year under different genres . . . and then write maybe 3 porposals a year trying to line up new contracts and fulfill existing contracts.
E
Thanks, Amie and Stephen!
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